A Family
by sweetsheart
Summary: She can't stand watching him get hurt. But it's what he does. Tsubaki/Mifune, Black*Star/Patti. K plus for mild sexual references.


She couldn't help that she loved him.

She couldn't help that every time her meister engaged in battle with him, she held back.

She held back because she loved him.

* * *

><p>"Tsubaki, really… I'll be alright." he said, pressing his hand to hers, which was currently pressed underneath the wound on his face. Tsubaki looked up at him, tears clouding her wide, dark eyes.<p>

"I did this to you, Mifune." she whispered, her head bowing in shame. Mifune pulled her head up to look at him.

"No, you didn't. Don't say that." Mifune said, quietly, his deep voice calming the woman. Tsubaki sighed.

"You really must be more careful. Black*Star is becoming a lot more aware of your movements… You have to stay safe. For Angela." Tsubaki said, standing up and watching as Mifune stood up after her.

"I feel a lot more confident now that I know you can take care of her." Mifune said.

"That doesn't mean you should go out and get yourself killed." Tsubaki replied, worriedly. Mifune turned Tsubaki around, his hands on her shoulders.

"Does Shibusen know that you're here?" Mifune asked. Tsubaki shook her head.

"I just… I needed to take care of you, Mifune." Tsubaki said, her eyes compassionate. Mifune smiled slightly, pressing his hand to the side of Tsubaki's face and leaning down to pull her into a kiss. However, as their lips were about to touch…

"Mifune! Tsubaki-chan!" she cried out, and the two flicked their heads to look at her, Tsubaki's ponytail smacking Mifune in the back of the head. He let go of Tsubaki and knelt down to Angela.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Mifune, is Tsubaki-chan sleeping over?" Angela asked, expectantly, a childlike bounce to her voice. Mifune looked back at Tsubaki and shrugged. Tsubaki smiled and nodded. Angela gave a little gasp of delight.

"Yay!" she squealed, running over to Tsubaki and hugging her, nearly swinging around her legs. Tsubaki knelt down and returned the embrace, the little girl giggling with delight.

"I think it's your bedtime now, though, Angela." Tsubaki said. Angela sighed.

"Will you read Princess Sparkles to me?" Angela asked, eyes wide and expectant. Tsubaki giggled and nodded.

"Of course. I'll save Mifune from it." Tsubaki said, picking up the little girl and carrying her off to her room in the refuge she and Mifune lived in. She placed her under the covers of the bed and pulled out the book, reading it to Angela with no qualms. As she finished the book, Angela looked at her through sleepy eyes.

"Tsubaki-chan?" Angela asked, quietly.

"Yes, Angela?" Tsubaki asked.

"Is Mifune your husband?" she asked. Tsubaki's eyes widened and she sighed.

"No, Angela. He isn't." she said. Angela sighed.

"Why not?" Angela asked.

"Because he and I aren't… we're not… Because we would have to get married for that to happen." Tsubaki said, finally finding the right words.

"I think you should get married." Angela said.

"We can't. Not yet, anyway. Not with all that's happening. Plus, I'm still at school. Why do you want us to get married?" Tsubaki asked.

"Because…" Angela started, but she looked away.

"What is it, Angela?" Tsubaki asked.

"It's silly." Angela said, quietly. Tsubaki shook her head.

"No, it won't be. Go on." Tsubaki said, quietly.

"Because… if you got married, then you'd stay here all the time, and you could read me Princess Sparkles and we could… we could be a family." Angela ended. Tsubaki, taken slightly aback by the sadness in the girl's voice, responded.

"We are a family, Angela." Tsubaki said. Angela smiled slightly.

"I love you very much, Tsubaki-chan." Angela said. Tsubaki smiled and brushed the hair out of the little girl's face.

"And I you, Angela." Tsubaki replied. Angela smiled and closed her eyes, sighing contently as Tsubaki brushed her hand against her cheek.

"Goodnight, Tsubaki-chan." Angela yawned. Tsubaki smiled and stood up.

"Goodnight, Angela." she replied, walking out of the room and shutting the door. As she walked out of the door, Mifune asked her a question.

"Won't they be able to detect you here?" Mifune asked. Tsubaki shook her head.

"Kim Diehl. She's a witch who hasn't been swayed by the magic. I've got some sort of temporary soul protect spell. She didn't have time to explain it fully to me… Black*Star came along… and…"

"And you still haven't told him." Mifune said, deadpanning.

"How can I, Mifune? He tries to _kill_ you every time he lays eyes on you, and that'll only be made worse if he knows what you're doing to his weapon!" Tsubaki cried, defensively. Mifune sighed, walking over to Tsubaki and resting his hands on her back. Tsubaki was in shock.

"I-I'm sorry, Mifune, I don't know where that came from." Tsubaki said, ashamedly. Mifune smiled slightly.

"It's alright. After meeting that Black*Star, you probably regularly have to yell like that in order to be heard." Mifune said. Tsubaki relaxed under Mifune's touch. She sighed and shut her eyes.

"Angela's getting bigger." Tsubaki whispered. Mifune gave a small smile and nodded.

"I know." he replied. Tsubaki's eyes opened again.

"You have to stay safe for her, Mifune. You're a father to her, you know?" Tsubaki asked. Mifune raised an eyebrow.

"Don't be ridiculous. I could never be father to her." Mifune said. Tsubaki sighed and crossed her arms.

"Now who's being ridiculous?" Tsubaki asked. Mifune rolled his eyes and sat down, Tsubaki sitting on his lap and resting her head in the crook of his neck.

"Mifune, you took her in when every other person looking for her wanted to kill her. What would she be without you? Even if she hadn't been killed?" Tsubaki asked. Mifune looked down and kissed the top of Tsubaki's head.

"I appreciate it, but-"

"There's no 'but', Mifune. You are her father. She wants us to… to be a family." Tsubaki gave a small smile. Mifune's eyes widened and his voice caught in her throat.

"What?" he asked. Tsubaki arched backwards, able to make eye contact with Mifune.

"She asked if we were married. Because then we could be a family." Tsubaki reiterated the young girl's words from earlier.

"We already are a family." Mifune stated. Tsubaki smile and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, geez. Yeah." Mifune scratched the back of his head. Tsubaki giggled and rested her head back on Mifune's chest. Mifune gently raised Tsubaki's left hand, holding her ring finger between his thumb and forefinger.

"One day, my love." Mifune gently kissed her on the forehead. Tsubaki felt her face heat up and she rested her hand on Mifune's thigh.

"I love you, Mifune." Tsubaki smiled.

"I love you too, Tsubaki." Mifune said.

And when he stood up, shut Angela's door and led Tsubaki to the bedroom, he proceeded to show her just how much he loved her.]

* * *

><p>Six years after Mifune had promised Tsubaki that they would one day be married; he was sitting in a quiet, sterile room, a cooing bundle of blue in his arms.<p>

"A little brother, Mama." a now ten-year-old Angela looked over at the tired looking twenty-five year old Tsubaki, who simply smiled and nodded.

"Your little brother, Anna." she replied, and reached out for her husband's arm. Mifune looked over at his wife, and despite the last few hours of expletives and promises of a lifetime of chastity, he still loved her as he had for the past years.

"Do you want to hold him?" Mifune asked Angela, who nodded.

"Yes please, Papa." she gave a small smile. Something lurched in Mifune's chest. It would still take him a while to get used to it. But they had wanted her to get used to it before they had a little boy running around the house calling them that.

"Masamune. I still think it's a funny name." Angela smiled. Tsubaki took a deep breath; when she and Mifrune had learnt they were having a son, there was really only one choice. Despite his turn, Masamune was still Tsubaki's brother.

"Well, Ange-"

"_Where is my little star?_"

Tsubaki's eyes lit up as the blue-haired man and his two-month-pregnant girlfriend walked through the doors, wide smiles on their faces.

"Tsubaki! Mifune! Angela! He's such a big _star!_" Black*Star exclaimed, walking over to the bundle and quietening slightly.

"When you told me you were trying for a baby, I didn't know you were modelling it on me!" Black*Star grinned.

"We weren-"

"Don't bother, Mifune." Tsubaki giggled. Black*Star averted his glance to Mifune.

"I suppose you just weren't quite a big enough star to get her pregnant without trying, eh?" Black*Star nudged the new father in the side.

"Since when has accidental pregnancy been a conquest?" Mifune asked. Black*Star crossed his arms and frowned at Mifune.

"Oh, Christmas is going to be fun." Tsubaki said to Patti, who was currently pulling Black*Star away from the bodyguard.

"It is." Patti giggled, walking on front or Black*Star and looking at Masamune.

"Masamune, see in here? This is your future wife! Or husband, if that's how it pans out!" Black*Star rested his hand on Patti's slightly expanded stomach, and Patti simply giggled.

"Black*Star, really?" Patti asked. Black*Star simply grinned and kissed Patti on the lips. Mifune took Masamune from Angela and gave him back to his mother. She looked down at him and cradled him gently. Mifune couldn't help but smile.

"You're a gorgeous mother." Mifune smiled. Tsubaki sighed and smiled at her husband.

"Thank you." Tsubaki mouthed.

At the time, it seemed that she was letting down her meister.

But, at that very moment in time, she had never been more contented that she had held back.

And, she still maintained the reason.

She held back because she loved him. And she would love him until the end of time.


End file.
